GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS guard Steph Curry raised the tension levels for his Christmas showdown with Cleveland’s LeBron James, saying he considers himself the world’s best basketball player.
In an interview published on Wednesday, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player told Time magazine that in the next year, “you should expect me to keep getting better”.
That’s a bold statement from a player on pace to shatter his own one-season NBA record for 3-pointers, who had the Warriors off to a record 24-0 start, and looks set to smash the record for the best season in NBA history, the 72-10 mark by Chicago in 1995-96.
Curry leads the NBA with 31.8 points a game and his Warriors will face four-time NBA MVP James and Cleveland on Friday for the first time since beating them in the NBA Finals last June.
James, 30, has long been considered the world’s best player, but Curry said he sees himself in that role now.
“In my mind, yes. That’s how I have confidence out there that I can play at a high level every night,” said Curry, 27.
“I don’t get into debates, arguing with people about why I am versus somebody else. I feel like anybody who’s at the level I’m trying to be at, if you don’t think that when you’re on the floor, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.”
Curry, whose father Dell was also an NBA long-range sharpshooter, says he embraces his growing role as what teammate Draymond Green calls “the face of the NBA”.
“You’ve got to be a winner and have all the right trajectory as a player and as a team to back that up,” said Curry.
“The way I try to represent my family and coaches I think all are characteristics the league aspires to portray. That’s just who I am. It’s not changing anything about me to fulfil that role.”